Sled-runner



'(No Model.) 2 Shefs-Sheet 1.

v. D. JOHNSON.

SLED RUNNER. No. 331,303. r Patented Dec. 1, 1885.

. J6 if 1 M mm IT ZJVVEJVTOR jiffw fflw Zlttorney (No Model.) I 2 Sheets-Sheet 2. V. D. JOHNSON.

SLED RUNNER. No. 331,303,. Patented Dec; 1, 1885.

WITNESSES 1 JV VEJV TOR .Attorney N. PETERS Pl'Mo-Lilhogrlphor, Wmhlnglon. D. C,

ll'ivrrn *r arns rrrca VICTOR D. JOHNSON, OF MOUNT PLEASANT, IOWA.

SLED-RUNNER.

EPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 331,303, dated December 1,1885. Application filed February 16, 1885. Serial No. 156,1l 3. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, VIcroR D. JOHNSON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Mount Pleasant, in the county of Henry and State of Iowa, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Sled and Sleigh Runners, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to the manner of forming and constructing a sled or sleigh runner principally of one continued or unbroken bar of T or similar shaped, as angle, iron.

The object of my invention is to provide a Wrought-iron sled or sleigh runner having the greatest possible strength combined with light ness and durability, and at the same time be ing very cheaply constructed.

I am aware that sleigh and toy-sled runners have been made of wrought-iron pipe by bending it in shape; but such runners lack in strength sufficient for heavy loads, and are therefore not practical for sleds designed for general use. They are further objectionable on account of the increased expense of tubularshaped metal, used in their construction, over that of T shape; and, furthermore, it is notso convenient for fastening the adjacent bends together, or for attaching other fixtures of a sled or sleigh to them, as where the latternamed shape of metal is used for said purpose. Said shaped iron is also much more convenient for attaching steel or other suitable kinds of metal soles to sled-runners than where round or tubular-shaped iron is used.

I am also aware that sled-runners have been made by bending ordinary plain flat bars of iron,so as to form the runner and knees of one continued bar by bending one end so as to form said knees of upward bends, which are made to rest on a-returned section of said bar, which is bent and laid under the bearings of said knees, and which is extended forward, so as to form the forward upward bend of the runner, and which is again bent backward over, .so as to rest on said knees, serving asa brace thereto. Said runners lack proper strength or stiffness for practical use in heavy work, unless undue weight and size of bar be used in their construction, owing to the fact that the chief strain upon a runner is in a vertical transverse manner; therefore, the bars being deprived of the strengthening-rib or angular flange projecting in a vertical. plane, makes it necessary to meet said deficiency of strength by largely increasing the size of bar ,and quantity of metal used over that necessary where T-shaped bars or angle-iron is used.

A still further objection to runners made of flat or square rectangular-shaped bars is that the shape of said flat bars for said purpose lacks in convenience for attaching other fiX- tures belonging to a sled thereto-such as the tongue-roller, the superstructure of a sled, strengthening-plates for supporting and holding in place contiguous bends of the bar made in the-formation of a runner, braces, &c.as making holes through bars of that shape for said purposes materially weakens them by having to be made through the thick part of the bar. In this my invention said holes are made through a thin vertical flange or strengthening-rib, which is far more convenient for said purposes, and which does not materially weaken said bar.

Runners for hand-sleds have also been made of T bar-iron by bending both ends of a piece of said bar upward, so as to shape each respectively suitable for its specific requirements, and having their terminal ends bent longitudinally inward, thereby forming supports for the platform of the sled. Couplingbraces are also attached to the flanges of said runners,constituting central supports for said platform but said runners have no knees or other fixtures for supporting or attaching benches of a team-sled thereto, which benches are indispensable for sleds used in carrying heavy loads.

My invention consists in bending T or similar shaped wrought-iron bars so as to form a sled or sleigh runner, having knees thereby formed for supporting the benches of a sled, all constructed of one continued unbroken bar.

It further consists in the preparatory shape and manner of applying wrought-iron kneecaps to said runners, as a means of attaching sled-benches thereto, all of which I will pro seed to more fully explain by aid of the accompanying illustrative drawings, which constitute part of this specification, of which Figure 1 is a side elevation of one runner complete, embodying my invention, showing the kneecaps and sole attached. Fig. 2 is a plan of the same viewed from the top. Fig. 3 is also a plan of the same in an inverted position. Fig. 4 is an elevation of part of a bar of T-shaped iron, showing niches cut in its rib-flange for convenience in making the several bends in forming a runner. Fig. 5 represents the shape in which the kneecaps are bent prior to and for convenience in putting them on the crown of the knees in attaching them to the runner. Fig. 6 represents a transverse section of the T bar-iron of which the runner is made. Fig. 7 is a rear elevation of a pair of runners coupled together by a sled-bench, showing the manner of attaching said benches to the caps of the runnerknees, and the dotted lines in said figure represent parts hidden from view, which embrace the stiffening flange or rib of the T- bar of which the runner is constructed and the folded ends of the knee-'caps, showing the manner of clamping or fitting them to and around the top of said knees; and Fig. 8 is an elevation of a vertical section taken lengthwise throughthe center of one of the kneecaps as attached to the runner, and transversely through the upper part of the knee at the attaching-point, showing more plainly the manner of fitting said knee-caps to the runner.

Similar letters of reference indicate like parts in the different figures, of which-- A is the lower part of the runner proper. B are the knees, which are formed by bending the T-bar as shown in Fig. 1. The number of knees to the runner may be either increased or diminished to but one, as circumstances and style of vehicle may demand.

0 is the forward upward bend of the runner.

It will be observed that in constructing the runner the bar is so arranged that its crosshead will be outward in the several bends constituting said knees and the forward upward bend, O, of the runner, and is so bent around under, forming the lower part of the runner also, thereby having projecting flanges on both sides, as a convenient means of attaching the knee-caps, soles, and other fixtures to said runners. The runners being thus shaped, having the rib-flange extending inward and touching in the backward bends at different points, metallic plates e are laid in and fastened, by riveting or otherwise, to the adjacent parts of said rib-flange, thereby securely holding said bends in proper position and giving great strength to said runner. A hole, 00, is made through the runner and strengthening-plate e in its forward upward bend for-the reception of an ordinary sledtongue roller.

-As a means of giving greater bearing-surface to the pivots of said roller, the thickness of the plate 6 at that point may be increased, or otherwise two plates may be used, one on either side of said flange. The knee-caps d are first made and bent as shown at Fig. 5, for convenience in attaching them to the top of said knees, the process being as follows: The said cap, being thus bent, is heated sufficiently for easy bending, when it is placed with its opened ends over the crown of the runner-bar on top of said knees, and in a transverse position therewith, and while hot is closed tightly to the bar forming the top of said knees by straightening its upper or longer section and closing tightly the other bends, so as to firmly grasp around the crown or laterally-projecting flanges and against the sides of the rib-flange of the portion of Zbar forming the top of the knee. It may also be more securely fastened by riveting through both of the angularly-bent ends of said cap and the rib-flange of the runner-bar. If the runners of a sled are required to stand bracing inward at top, as shown at Fig. 7, (which is the better position,) said caps 11 are properly fitted to said runners, respectively,with reference to said object when closing them to said knees. A hole, f, is made vertically in the top of the forward upper bend of said runner,

through which a bolt may be placed as a means of fastening fenders or other elements of the superstructure of a sled to them at that point. For conveniencein making said holes and en tering said bolts, part of the rib-flange is cut away, as shown in both Figs. 1 and 4, at S, having an opening at that point, whiehalso renders the necessarily short bending of the bar at that point more easily done.

a is asole, which may be made of steel or other suitable metal, and is fastened to said runners by means of bolts a, passing upward through it and the laterally-projecting flanges of said runner-bar. The caps d are provided with holes suitable for bolting sled-benches V thereto.

S in Fig. 4 represents niches cut out of the rib-flange of a bar,for convenience in making short bends in said bar in forming the top of the knees.

K represents the crown or cross-head of the T-bar. V

Runners thus formed are used by coupling them together in pairs, by means of benches and other fixtures, in the ordinary way.

Having thus fully described my invention so as to enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to understand the same, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A sled or sleigh runner designed for carrying heavy loads, formed of T or analogous shaped wrought-metal bars, having broad longitudinal ribs or flanges arranged at right angles to each other by bending said bars so as to form a complete runner, including the bench-knees and upward bends at the ends, all made of one continued unbroken bar, substantially as shown, for the purposes specified.

2. In combination ,with a sled or sleigh runner having benchknees formed of T or analogous shaped iron by bending the bars so as to have the crown or cross-head K of said iron placed outward and upward in the formation of said knees, the knee-caps d, as made and attached to the runner, substantially as shown, for the purposes specified.

Witnesses: VICTOR D. JOHNSON.

O. L. MoREHoUs, W. D. LEEDHAM. 

